This article was first published on June 7. It was updated on July 3, when Japan introduced the new yen banknotes.
The vending machine at Hiroshi Nishitani’s Tokyo ramen restaurant has been reliable for a decade. Customers give him money and the machine prints out their orders while he prepares fresh noodles in the kitchen. The food is served within minutes, once the customer hands the order to the pair of cooks at the counter.
But the machine’s days are numbered. Japan has introduced a new series of banknotes, something it does about every 20 years to prevent counterfeiting. The machine, already too old to accept the latest coin designs, will not accept the new notes, according to Mr Nishitani.
“There’s nothing wrong with the vending machine,” he said, expressing frustration at having to buy a new, expensive unit to support the new bills.
Across Japan, restaurants, cafes, restrooms and other businesses face a similar prospect. The country has 4.1 million vending machines, according to Nikkei Compass, a database of industry reports. Many of them will become obsolete now that new 1,000-, 5,000- and 10,000-yen notes using hologram technology have gone into circulation.
In Japan, where the working population is shrinking, machines reduce the need for cashiers and waiters. Among those most dependent on machines are ramen shops, which serve one of the favorite and most affordable meals of the Japanese working class.
Ramen, wheat noodles in a richly flavoured broth, became a staple of Japanese cuisine after becoming popular in the 1980s as the country’s economy took off. Restaurants spread as people clamoured for the quick, filling meal and chefs experimented with new ingredients. Many cooks now dedicate their lives to perfecting the dish. Mr Nishitani, 42, started making ramen at age 17.
Noodles are a staple food among construction and factory workers, salarymen, and students looking for cheap meals. Many ramen shops are clustered around train stations, catering to commuters.
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, students from a nearby university gathered for a late lunch at Mr. Nishitani’s nine-seat shop, Goumen Maruko.
He and his three employees sell about 100 dishes a day. Each costs less than 1,000 yen, or about $6.50. The most popular dish is a $5 Jiro-style bowl: noodles with a mound of vegetables and chunks of pork fat soaked in a steaming pork and chicken broth. The most expensive dishes, which come in larger portions, cost about $6.20.
Some municipalities offer subsidies to help cover the cost of upgrading or replacing vending machines, but most of the cost will fall on shop owners. A new machine can cost 2 million yen, or about $13,000, according to Masahiro Kawamura, sales manager for Elcom, a Tokyo company that sells ticket machines.
Yoshihiro Serizawa, who runs a soba shop in Tokyo, said he spent about $19,000 on his new machine, which also accepts cashless payment — “a huge financial burden.” The amount equates to more than 6,000 orders of his most popular dish: soba with mixed vegetables and seafood tempura, which costs just over $3.
“You have to constantly think about how to get your money back,” Serizawa says.
The new banknotes are putting more pressure on small businesses in Japan. Inflation has recently picked up after remaining low for years, and the country has entered a recession.
Rising flour and electricity prices have added to the costs of ramen shops in particular. According to analysts at Tokyo Shoko Research, 45 ramen restaurants nationwide filed for bankruptcy last year, the highest number since 2009. With customers unaccustomed to rising prices, businesses have struggled to increase their own.
Among ramen chefs, the widely accepted limit for a bowl of ramen is known as the “1,000 yen wall.”
“I really don’t want to raise the price any further,” Mr. Nishitani said.
When Japan released its last batch of banknotes in 2004, it cost hundreds of millions of dollars to modify vending machines and issue 10 billion new notes. Demand was so high that a manufacturer near Osaka called Glory saw its net income triple, according to an annual report.
The transition to the new machines could take years. According to the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun, by the summer of 2023, only 30% of beverage vending machines will be able to accept the 500 yen coins introduced in 2021.
Mr. Nishitani’s vending machine doesn’t work with those coins either. According to a city official, his Tokyo district subsidizes up to $1,900 for new machines. Mr. Nishitani laughed at the idea that would be enough.
With two months to go before the new notes are issued, it has not yet ordered any new machines. It recently started accepting payments via a credit card reader. But that has meant more administrative costs and more work.
“I can’t get used to it at all,” he says.
#Japan #runs #vending #machines #break #millions
